Reading Aloud

Mr. Schrock has a wonderful volume of stories written by O. Henry. He has read a number of these aloud for the students during the past weeks. I have only recently gotten around to telling him that one of them "The Last Leaf" is one of my favorite short stories. I first read it in a gardening magazine, Green Prints, one especially dedicated to the idea of gardening rather than the how to of gardening. The publisher's Christian sensibilities were a pleasant surprise. I highly recommend both The Last Leaf and Green Prints: The Weeder's Digest.

I wonder if principals in other high schools have a read-aloud-for-enjoyment tradition like our school does. I know that at least three of the four principals our school has had since 1975 have each had their trademark stories. Paul (Brother Miller) read Winnie the Pooh so memorably that former students have planned for him to read these stories at our Miller family reunions, for old time's sake, and for the benefit of those who are too young or too old to have heard them in high school. Phrases like "I'm feeling a little eleven o'clockish" and "Oh bother" and "I'm a bear of very little brain" and "My favorite size" and "Bonhomie. French word meaning bonhomie" and "expotition" all resonate with Winnie the Pooh aficionados.

Andrew (Mr. S) used to read about Archibald Brewster and his friends (Help me out here Andrew. I can't remember the name of the book.) It was a children's story about a group of boys in a small town, probably about mid-century. Their escapades and conversations provided lots of fodder for future conversations among the students. "I shall observe" was a particularly useful quotation from Archibald. Andrew also read some Patrick McManus stories, editing on the fly as necessary.

And now we're getting O. Henry stories from Wes (Mr. Schrock).

I frequently read aloud to students in my classes. One of the things I like about doing this is that often I come across words that are not part of our usual speaking vocabulary, and reading aloud gives my students a chance to hear them pronounced correctly in context.

Here at home, Joel and I frequently read aloud to each other, usually only in small snippets, an especially well-turned phrase or description, lively conversation, or incisive prose. We don't hesitate to correct each other's pronunciation during such times. I value the input from someone who is often more knowledgeable about these things than I am.

It's been a long time since my dad read aloud from Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories, translating into Pennsylvania Dutch as he went. But being read to still charms me now as it did then.

If you're reading this, chances are that someone in your past took the time to read to you.

Pass it on.